This space is for friends, family and sworn enemies to convene, commiserate and bask in the dim glow of our most deficient public figures. Hopefully we can have some laughs along the way. If we don't, it's your fault.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

What Babies Want

After a check up with the doctor, Mrs. Blackwell and I are heading to Babies R Us today to scope out the latest and greatest in baby products.

Initial reconnaissance at the local Target was not encouraging with regard to pricing. After wandering through the aisles of inflated price tags I was reminded of my wedding, a time when anything with the word "wedding" attached to it was subjected to a 50 percent markup.

Strangers, the Internet and television tell me we'll need lots of stuff to be deemed serviceable caretakers by the new-parent jet set. Fortunately, Mrs. Blackwell and I aren't buying what these folks are selling. We're not going on CraigsList for pacifiers but, these kids also aren't getting Birkin Bags to hold their diapers.

Used clothes from their cousins? Yep. "Previously-owned" toys? You bet. Amazon.com? Oh yeah.

For my part, all I really want is a car seat that works. I've watched more guys struggle with car seats than with their golf game and with about the same amount of swearing involved. I'm pretty sure that the whole "earmuffs" thing came about while some desperate bugger was fumbling about with a car seat in sweltering heat.

The dads I met at "Daddy Bootcamp" (I was honorably discharged by the way) agreed that the car seat is a crucial. After that, there was little agreement but no shortage of products to remember to buy.

The worst possibility of course is that a year from now, we find ourselves with unopened boxes whose brand-new contents now serve no purpose.

All we know right now is there's a lot we don't know. But, today, we're going to start finding out.